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Delivering Value to The Customer

Defining the problem statement clearly is directly proportional to the success of an IoT implementation. But this is what most IoT service providers miss out. They should understand how these solutions can impact the efficiency, customer satisfaction and productivity in the long run. This entire cycle needs great retrospection and there cannot be a bigger IoT implementation challenge than this gap of understanding the customer problem statement. Therefore, it is crucial for IoT consultants to figure-out the key performance indicators to measure and improve through an IoT solution.

Hardware Compatibility Issues

Data capturing majorly occurs through various sensors, PLCs, etc., which are connected to IoT gateways to collect & transmit data to the cloud. Enterprises need to meticulously identify the equipment, hardware, and existing legacy machines based on their goals & business outcomes. When there are legacy machines that do not have the said PLCs and sensors involved, the IoT implementation challenge becomes more critical. Adding external sensors to the legacy machines is one quick work around, but it will not be full proof, making it a very challenging task. Therefore, identifying the physical devices and understanding the associated compatibility issues before IoT implementation is highly recommended.

Data Connectivity Issues

This is possibly the most ignored challenge since data connectivity has vastly improved. Yet, there still exist some areas where data connectivity is an IoT implementation challenge. It involves how IoT devices talk to the gateway & the Cloud and what data format do they generate. Most IoT gateways available are compatible with GPRS and Wi-Fi/LAN, but legacy devices depend on PLCs, telemetry systems and RTUs to generate data. So, the need is for a suitable edge layer that translates transport and data format protocols to send data to the IoT platform. Defining the right combination of these protocols before proceeding with an IoT implementation will help in going a long way.

Incorrect Data Capture Difficulties

Let’s consider that the entire setup did not face any challenges and the system is up and running, but there can still be the issue of incorrect data capture creeping up. Because of some untoward incident or the inability of the software to handle certain anomalies in run time, incorrect data gets recorded. This results in inaccurate analytics that may not help in taking better decisions. This IoT implementation challenge can be a major decision influencer for the enterprises as well as the customers.

Analytics Challenges

The real value of an IoT solution is realized through actionable insights derived from the collected IoT data. This demands a high-performance analytics platform that is capable of handling the ginormous amount of data to be added in the solution at a later point. Data Analytics partners need to keep this in mind while devising the IoT implementation architecture to involve data processing, cleansing and representation. Thus, leaving enough space for extensibility to add real-time or predictive analytics to an IoT solution can help solve this critical IoT implementation challenge.

Data Security issues

With occurrences of many ransomware attacks recently, Enterprises and customers are apprehensive about data security. There is also a chance of corporate espionage to gain intellectual property. Hence, IoT service providers need to ensure that their data is going to be safe. These data security issues can be taken care by using a comprehensive governance mode, which provides secure access to sensitive reports and data. This phase of planning, that defines various data related security policies is crucial for successful IoT implementation.

This will be the key turning point or deciding factor on how our world is going to run in future. There should be defined standards for all IoT enabled products & have to undergo strict security testing which will ensure that data is safe & at the same time we don’t end up like a Judgement day in Terminator. Cyber attacks is increasing , the major concerns from consumer is regarding security of IoT devices. We have to look from bother software & physical side of security. At the same time the device can be hacked through software, all the devices are vulnerable physically also. We are expecting the industry to respond , considering this as the priority and deploy the latest security technologies and adopt security best practices. We can see already few of the government security agencies & organization are collaboratively working on these.

Security and Privacy:
Security is an essential pillar of the Internet and one that to be equally essential and the most significant challenge for the IoT. As Increase the number of connected devices increases the opportunity to exploit security vulnerabilities, as poorly designed IoT devices can expose user data to theft by leaving data streams inadequately protected.A latest research claims that by 2020, 25% of cyber attacks will target IoT devices.

Major security issues in iot have been raised that the IoT is being developed rapidly without appropriate consideration of the profound security challenges involved.Most of the technical security concerns are similar to those of conventional servers, workstations and smartphones. Security is the biggest concern in adopting Internet of things technology. As the Internet of things spreads widely, cyber attacks are likely to become an increasingly physical threat.The vulnerabilities include weak authentication (IoT devices are being used with default credentials), unencrypted messages sent between devices, lack of verification or encryption of software updates.

Regulations and Standards:
One of the key drivers of the IoT is data. The success of the idea of connecting devices to make them more efficient is dependent upon access to and storage & processing of data. Companies working on the IoT collect data from multiple sources and store it for further processing.Lack of proper Reguation and standards will open up the possibility for for privacy and security dangers. IoT regulation depends on the country. Several standards for the IoT industry are actually being established relating to automobiles because most concerns arising from use of connected cars apply to healthcare devices as well. Lack of standards and documented best practices have a greater impact than just limiting the potential of IoT devices.These are because of still early days for IoT in government and unclear business models, despite strong value proposition.Without the right standards to guide and regulate manufacturers the developers may design products that operate in disruptive ways and If they are configured or designed poorly, these devices may have huge consequences on resources they connect.

Lack of Interoperability:
Another one of the main internet of things challenges is IoT devices lacking interoperability. With numerous vendors, OEMs, and service providers in IoT business, it has become really difficult to maintain interoperability between different IoT systems.Sensors and connectivity are the integral components of IoT. But not every IoT soutions are equipped with advanced sensors and networking capabilities to effectively communicate and share data between different builds and manafucturers. It will be really challenging to identify a easy solution for this. However from end user perspective this is a really needed capability in a IoT devices.